I had three bathrooms in my last home, all cream colored cultured marble. Yes, it can be easier to clean, but the silicone sealant can get moldy and stain. It also tends to need re-caulking fairly often in spots. When used for a vanity top in a bathroom with heavy use, it will get a "patina" (fine scratches). The manufacturer overall did a high quality job and finish, however, I didn't want to have cultured marble again. I found it "O.K". We are currently building a log style home. My husband wanted cultured marble again, despite the fact that I wanted to try a beautiful tile shower with minimal grout lines. Newer grouts and materials are "supposed" to be much better than in years past. Since we are having all natural products in this house and no sheetrock, I felt with my vintage style sinks it would look wonderful. Long story short, we put in a white on white cultured marble shower, six feet long and four feet wide. I absolutely hate it. It looks like a hospital shower to me and the vintage sink makes it appear even more like plastic. Different shower person this time around. He didn't do what I would call a great installation and the walls are scuffed up. He claims this can be buffed out, but in reality this takes off gel coating. After spending a LOT of money, I want this shower ripped out and something more aesthetically pleasing put in. Sandy

If this is an acrylic solid surface, where it is solid/patterned all the way through the material, like a Corian, then that is much superior to the cultured marble. Cultured marble has a gelcoat finish where the pattern and color does not go all the way through, and it can be damaged by some cleaning materials and methods. With a solid surface acrylic type material, it can be buffed out to be renewed. It's a "lifetime" choice for your shower surface. If it's a very thin acrylic type wall panel, the kind that kinda "flaps in the wind" it's so thin, then the cultured marble would be a better choice than that. It's not a renewable surface however. Did you not want a tiled surface? With the new grouts with built in sealers, it's care is about as easy as that of a panel wall system.

Hello! You have a very interesting issue! And, like you, I looked at both marmoleum and cork for my 1936 kitchen, as both are period appropriate. I've decided on cork from duro-design. I was concerned about seams showing in the click flooring. I had heard that Marmoleum, the sheet kind, not the click kind, was a kind of fussy installation that even flooring installers who are used to sheet vinyl find difficult. And So I found a local Marmoleum certified installer. He sold a lot of different types of floors, but even so hadn't done too many Marmoleum installs. I felt like I would be a guinea pig. Again, I was also concerned about seams. The borders for the sheet goods have heat sealed seams, but you would still have open seams where the border meets the sheet lino, unless you specify "welded" seams. They're heat sealed on site, and it costs extra. That said, the costs for Marmoleum and the cork were comparable. Here's why I chose the cork -- I've decided to use durodesign's glue-down cork tile that has a mfr-applied urethane layer and it will get the 4 coats of low voc urethane that I'll apply. That made all the difference to me, because as someone who has installed ceramic tile, peel-and-stick vinyl, wide plank wood and god only knows what all else, I hate seams. They catch dirt, etc. I like the site-applied urethane because it will fill any seams and make for a much more durable floor. Even though the cork tiles should be installed tightly against each other, even smooshed together a little, there will be seams. The urethane sounds easy to apply (much like the tung oil finish that we applied to our wide-plank floors) and can also be hand-sanded and reapplied after 5 years, so that's a plus. And just judging by the very pretty samples that durodesign sent, it's going to be a joy to stand on these guys. Very comfy. I'm going to try either an all over tone-on-tone checkerboard (Barriga Leather Brown and Light Oak), or a checkerboard inset "rug effect" (leather brown and light oak)with a whiskey brown border in the center of the room, surrounded by a light oak or leather brown field. And I'm going to install it myself, if I don't jinx myself here. All of this to say that if you are interested in DIY, I think the cork is the way to go. Also, I think there's an inspiration pic I used from Country Living that shows how pretty cork can be with white cabs. If I find it, I'll link.

I've seen both installed in my many 'travels" through kitchen showrooms while searching for light countertops as well. I see this as an apples to oranges comparison; both are good choices depending on what you want because they are very different in feel. The organic white is a polished "cool" white, and has a decidedly contemporary look. The Corian is a matte "warm" color, and to me has a very traditional look, mimicking marble. The warm vs. cool issue may influence your backsplash choices, so be sure you know which way you want to go before deciding. Either way, try to see these in an installation if you can, before deciding. I was all set to go with the organic white until I saw it installed in a kitchen display. The dotty pattern is MUCH more pronounced than I wanted or had expected from the samples and internet pictures I had seen. I decided instead to go with the Caesarstone Buttermilk, which has no pattern and is a warm white (I'll have dark stained cherry). The Corian Rain Cloud I saw was very pretty and I think non-TKO persons could mistake it for stone. It definitely was not a contemporary look on its own, though. Good luck!